Telephone & Data Systems Inc. (TDS) Sees Strong Trading Volume

Telephone & Data Systems Inc. (NYSE:TDS) saw unusually-strong trading volume on Wednesday . Approximately 1,042,244 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 83% from the previous session’s volume of 569,065 shares.The stock last traded at $29.23 and had previously closed at $29.30.

A number of brokerages have commented on TDS. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Telephone & Data Systems from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $31.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley restated a “hold” rating on shares of Telephone & Data Systems in a research report on Thursday, June 30th.

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.19 billion and a PE ratio of 40.15. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $28.36 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.05.

Telephone & Data Systems (NYSE:TDS) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, May 6th. The company reported $0.07 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.10 by $0.03. The firm earned $1.24 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.33 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down .7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Telephone & Data Systems Inc. will post $0.40 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 30th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.148 per share. This represents a $0.59 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 14th.

In other news, SVP Scott H. Williamson sold 13,146 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.58, for a total transaction of $375,712.68. Following the transaction, the senior vice president now owns 43,308 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,237,742.64. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Clarence A. Davis sold 1,400 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.24, for a total value of $39,536.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 7,649 shares in the company, valued at approximately $216,007.76. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of TDS. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Telephone & Data Systems by 9.5% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,615,432 shares of the company’s stock valued at $119,497,000 after buying an additional 399,558 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Telephone & Data Systems by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 301,432 shares of the company’s stock worth $7,804,000 after buying an additional 8,194 shares in the last quarter. Cornerstone Capital Management Holdings LLC. increased its stake in Telephone & Data Systems by 10.4% in the fourth quarter. Cornerstone Capital Management Holdings LLC. now owns 539,777 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,975,000 after buying an additional 50,734 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Telephone & Data Systems by 60.1% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 568,615 shares of the company’s stock worth $14,722,000 after buying an additional 213,529 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mutual of America Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Telephone & Data Systems by 3.0% in the fourth quarter. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC now owns 64,498 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,670,000 after buying an additional 1,872 shares in the last quarter.

Telephone and Data Systems, Inc is a diversified telecommunications company. The Company conducts its Wireless operations through its subsidiary, United States Cellular Corporation (U.S. Cellular). It provides Wireline services, cable services and hosted and managed services, through its subsidiary, TDS Telecommunications Corporation (TDS Telecom).